What disease involves reduced blood flow to the limbs due to fatty deposits in hardened arteries, causing cold extremities and pain?

• A. Peripheral vascular disease
• B. Varicose veins
• C. Lymphedema
• D. Atherosclerosis

Answer: (A)

Reduced blood flow to the limbs from arteries that have fatty plaque buildup causes tissue ischemia, which patients often feel as pain with activity and cold, pale extremities. Peripheral vascular disease describes problems with the blood vessels outside the heart and brain, including arteries in the legs that become narrowed by atherosclerosis. When these leg arteries are blocked enough to reduce perfusion, you get claudication, coldness, and other signs of ischemia. The underlying process is atherosclerosis, but the condition affecting limb blood flow is categorized clinically as peripheral vascular disease. Varicose veins involve venous valves and typically present with heaviness and swelling, not arterial coldness or ischemic pain. Lymphedema is swelling from lymphatic fluid buildup, not arterial blockage. So peripheral vascular disease best fits the scenario.